The Roles of Danio Rerio Nrf2 Paralogs in Response to Oxidative Stress in the Pancreatic Beta Cell

Abstract

Oxidative stress can disrupt cellular homeostasis, leading to cellular dysfunction and apoptosis. The Nrf2 transcription factor regulates the antioxidant response in cells by binding to antioxidant response elements (ARE) in DNA and activating genes of enzymes that combat oxidative stress. During the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus (DM), β-cells are exposed to increased amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that cause oxidative stress. Zebrafish (ZF) are excellent models for studying the dynamic mechanisms associated with DM pathogenesis, and we recently developed a ZF model of β-cell apoptosis caused by ROS. Two paralogs of Nrf2 have been identified in ZF, Nrf2a and Nrf2b, but their roles in pancreas development and/or β-cell survival are unknown. To investigate their roles, Nrf2a and Nrf2b antisense morpholinos (MO) were injected into Day 0 ZF embryos and analyzed over time. While Nrf2a MO showed no obvious phenotypes compared to WT, Nrf2b MO exhibited reduced pancreas size and islets with disrupted morphology. Ins:NTR Nrf2a MO showed reduced β-cell loss upon exposure to Metronidazole (MTZ) under generation of ROS compared to WT. Sequence analysis of ZF nrf2b in 3-day post-fertilization (dpf) embryos revealed a novel splice variant containing an additional exon that has not been described. Further investigation of Nrf2a and Nrf2b is likely to yield additional insights regarding the function and regulation of the NRF2-signaling pathway and their roles in β-cell protection under oxidative stress.